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Thangvietnam, we contrast "fewer" and "less" as I discussed above, but not "few" and "less." Let me show some usages:

Fewer = a smaller number of something (a comparative word)

We have fewer visitors this week than we did last week.My wife has fewer papers on the desk than I do.There are five fewer men than women at the party.

Less = a smaller measurement or quantity of something (a comparative word)

I have less money than my brother.If I had taken less time on question 7, I might have done better on the exam.Cycling requires less upper body strength than rock climbing.

Few = a small number of something (not a comparative word)

We have had few visitors this week.Few of my friends enjoy spicy food. A few of my friends enjoy spicy food.

Note that these last two have different implications. When I say "few of my friends," I mean "not very many of my friends." I am emphasizing the small number. When I say "a few of my friends," I mean "several of my friends." I am emphasizing the fact that some friends *do* like spicy food.

I hope this list helps. Let me know if you had something else in mind, or if you have other questions.
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Re: In 1979 lack of rain reduced India's rice production to [#permalink]

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05 Mar 2013, 09:36

Could anyone tell me ... the 'countable' 'not countable' scenario here. HE talks about the production in percentages (25%). So shouldn't it be Fewer??
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(E) fewer than that of India's 1978 harvest Wrong. - "percent" is abstract number --> Must use "less", not "fewer". - "that of the 1978 harvest" is redundant. "harvest" also means "production".

Hope it helps.
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Re: In 1979 lack of rain reduced India's rice production to [#permalink]

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03 Sep 2013, 00:03

jaituteja wrote:

Hi,

We can count production as it is given, "production to about 41 millions"

few is used for countable things.Few books, few stores.

Besides, little is used for uncountable things. little water.

So, why can't we use few here as we can count the production in its unit?

Thanks,Jai

Technically, few is used for countable noun, less is used for uncountable noun.

Abstract numbers such as percentage is considered uncountable noun. Why? Because "percentage" itself is not complete. Percentage of what? That's why we call percentage is abstract number --> uncountable noun --> "less" is correct.

Please see the non-underlined part, which says "25 percent" <-- we can't use "fewer" here. You can ONLY count one percent, two percent,..... BUT you can't count one percent of 1978 harvest. That is abstract number.

In short, "Less" is used for uncountable, usually abstract nouns:level, quantity, rate, figure, percentage, etc. ect...

Hope it helps.
_________________

Please +1 KUDO if my post helps. Thank you.

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Re: In 1979 lack of rain reduced India's rice production to [#permalink]

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15 Nov 2013, 19:00

tanviet wrote:

DmitryFarber wrote:

No, size makes no difference. We always use "fewer" for countable and "less" for uncountable. Here, we use "less" rather than "fewer" because we are comparing the overall size of production, rather than the specific number of tons. This generally happens with weights and measures. For instance, I would say "I weigh less than 200 pounds," not fewer, because I am talking about a measurement, not a group of things. I'd also say "I want less than 3 ounces of coffee" or "I have less than 5 feet of rope left." Sure, we can count pounds, ounces, and feet, but we are using them to talk about an amount, not a number. 3 ounces of coffee is a way of saying how much coffee you have, but we're not counting individual coffee beans. Similarly, in the original problem, we're not counting individual grains of rice; rather, we're measuring overall rice production.

great, thank you, manhantan expert.

I am satisfied with oa but

In 1979 lack of rain reduced India's rice production to about 41 million tons, nearly 25 percent //less than those of the 1978 harvest.//

(A) less than those of the 1978 harvest

(B) less than the 1978 harvest

(C) less than 1978

(D) fewer than 1978

(E) fewer than that of India's 1978 harvest

but "less than the 1978 harvest" modify "production" or " 41 million tons" pls, help

Re: In 1979 lack of rain reduced India's rice production to [#permalink]

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27 Nov 2013, 05:57

DmitryFarber wrote:

No, size makes no difference. We always use "fewer" for countable and "less" for uncountable. Here, we use "less" rather than "fewer" because we are comparing the overall size of production, rather than the specific number of tons. This generally happens with weights and measures. For instance, I would say "I weigh less than 200 pounds," not fewer, because I am talking about a measurement, not a group of things. I'd also say "I want less than 3 ounces of coffee" or "I have less than 5 feet of rope left." Sure, we can count pounds, ounces, and feet, but we are using them to talk about an amount, not a number. 3 ounces of coffee is a way of saying how much coffee you have, but we're not counting individual coffee beans. Similarly, in the original problem, we're not counting individual grains of rice; rather, we're measuring overall rice production.

we do not have the formal instruction of the use of less or fewer in the cases of measure/weight. and this is hard for us to obsorb/remember the usage in those cases.

in the book "advanced grammar in use by Martin", both less and fewer can be used with percentage. so, it is possible that both "less" and "fewer" are correct in this sc problem

another point

here the comparision is "amount of 41 tons" is 25 less than the 1978 havest. the sentence dose not compare "production" with the havest because "production" is general, not "production of 1979"

so the only reason why e is wrong is that "that" in e is wrong.
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Re: In 1979 lack of rain reduced India's rice production to [#permalink]

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31 May 2014, 23:25

In 1979 lack of rain reduced India's rice production to about 41 million tons, nearly 25 percent less than those of the 1978 harvest.

(A) less than those of the 1978 harvest

(B) less than the 1978 harvest

(C) less than 1978

(D) fewer than 1978

(E) fewer than that of India's 1978 harvest

Production is non countable so less than is correct,leading out Option D,E.Option A: This version exhibits redundant word choice.The pronoun those refers to the tons of the 1978 harvest. Both harvests are measured in tons, and it is clearer and simpler to compare with the harvest itself, not with the tons of the harvest.Option B: correctly compares the 1978 harvest with the 1979 harvest.Option C: This version is illogical. It compares rice production in tons with a year, 1978._________________

Re: In 1979 lack of rain reduced India's rice production to [#permalink]

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06 May 2015, 04:45

betterscore wrote:

In 1979 lack of rain reduced India's rice production to about 41 million tons, nearly 25 percent less than those of the 1978 harvest.

(A) less than those of the 1978 harvest

(B) less than the 1978 harvest

(C) less than 1978

(D) fewer than 1978

(E) fewer than that of India's 1978 harvest

Explanation- Since it is a comparison question ask yourself what is being compared? Rice production in 1978 to rice production in 1979.Right!Now can we count rice production?1 rice production, 2 rice production doesn’t make senseSo rice production is uncountable thus we have to use less(not few)(A) is wrong because of use of those for singular rice production(C) is wrong because you cannot compare rice production in one year to another year(1978)Hence (B) stands correct

Re: In 1979 lack of rain reduced India's rice production to [#permalink]

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11 May 2015, 22:33

I know choice a is wrong because of redundancy (just as the OG explanation), but I think A has another mistake. In choice A, "those" refers to "tons", so we should use "fewer" instead of "less".Am I right? If not, can someone help correct me?Thanks~

Re: In 1979 lack of rain reduced India's rice production to [#permalink]

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13 May 2015, 05:57

DmitryFarber wrote:

That's a hard one to answer, because A as written doesn't make more sense. How can we say that the production is less than the tons?

In any case, we choose "less" or "fewer" based on what we're counting, so be careful about using "those" to make your decision. For instance, both of the following are correct:

Investors in Country X earn less money than those in Country Y.His strategy produced less profit than that of his competitor.

Notice that here we choose "less" based on what we have less of (money, profit), not what produces less (those [investors], that [strategy]).

Thanks a lot Dmitry!But I still have a question, why can't we compare "41 millions tons" with "those" (refers to X tons)? If we are counting "tons", then we have to use "fewer".btw, I always find it hard to find out which two things are compared. Could you pls give me some advice?